Sitting through this movie, wrote Slant Magazines critic of Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, one is driven to respect not the artistry of the filmmakers, as theres precious little of that on display, but the ingenuity and shamelessness of the businessmen whove coerced a significant amount of ticket buyers into plopping down their money. Part sequel, part spin-off, but mostly more of the same, The Marked Ones was another reminder of what happens when a franchise goes on too long and filmmakers attempt to squeeze nickels and dimes out of the same premise for the fifth time. By this point, the returns hadnt just diminished, they were looking decidedly decrepit. That said, The Marked Ones stacks up well against the fifth entries in the Howling, Hellraiser and Halloween franchises, and youd definitely give it a day in court over Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning. No matter how you feel about the Paranormal Activity films, at least theyve never resorted to Scooby Doo endings. Theres no reason to believe that Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, which opens on UK screens on October 23rd, will be any better or worse than its predecessors, or that it will even vary greatly from the expected formula. However it turns out, we already know this much: there are far worse horror franchises out there...
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
